What Is The FDCPA?

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a Federal law that protects all consumers from abusive collection tactics. The FDCPA applies to debt collection agencies working on behalf of the original creditor. The original creditor is not required by law to follow the FDCPA.

Understanding the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and letting collectors know that you understand your rights is often one of the most effective ways of dealing with collectors and their unsubstantiated threats.

Below are some FDCPA violation examples:

• Contacting a debtor who is represented by an attorney.
• Failing to warn a debtor that the communication is from a debt collector and that any information obtained will be used to collect a debt.
• Failing to warn on all subsequent communications that the calls are from a debt collector.
• Calling the debtor an unreasonable number of times daily or after they have been instructed to stop calling.
• Yelling, screaming, name calling, threatening violence, or making racial, religious, or sexual slurs.
• Falsely threatening to ruin a debtor’s credit or threatening criminal charges, prosecution, or jail.
• Pretending he or she is calling from a government agency, police department, court, or law firm.
• Contacting the debtor’s employer or threatening wage garnishment.
• Calling before 8 a.m. (local time) or after 9 p.m. (local time).
• Misrepresenting the amount of debt owed or attempting to collect a debt that has been paid, settled, or discharged in bankruptcy.
• Filing frivolous or improper lawsuits against the debtor.

• Pretending to be a police officer and acting on behalf of a government agency.
• Using or threatening to use force or violence.
• Communicating, or threatening to communicate, with your employer about the debt, unless they have taken a judgment against you.
• Reporting, or threatening to report, derogatory information about a disputed debt to a credit reporting agency without also disclosing the existence of your dispute.
• Contacting third parties about your debt.
• Harassing you or your family about the debt.
• Contacting you between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. without your permission.
• Holding themselves out as attorneys, or misrepresenting to you that an attorney is involved (this is also a potential violation of the FDCPA).
• Filing a lawsuit against you in the wrong venue (for example, suing you in a distant court to make it difficult for you to defend the lawsuit).
• Sending you communications, such as forms and “summons,” designed to look like attorney letters or government documents.
• Using obscene, profane, vulgar, or abusive language when communicating with you or your family.
• Threatening or attempting to enforce an illegitimate debt against you, such as a debt that has expired under the statute of limitations.
• Knowingly hiring an unlicensed CCA to collect a debt.
• Mailing you documents that contain embarrassing words or phrases on a postcard or envelope or communicating directly with you when they know you are represented by an attorney.